Beautiful Tomorrowland, 1950s
I have a pair of very nice slide scans featuring Tomorrowland as it looked in its first few years. They're undated, but I'd guess that they are from around 1957. Just a hunch!
So, there it is, as we look across Meteor Plaza (I just made that name up, but look forward to the name appearing elsewhere!), with that crazy Moonliner to our left, perfectly accessorized by that toothpick-and-olive light fixture. Right in front of us is the Flight Circle, though nothing's going on there at the moment. And beyond that is the Tomorrowland Art Corner, where some of the best (and years later, most valuable) Disneyland merchandise was sold.
Here's another view, with a closer look at the Art Corner building. I love those abstract graphic panels, which resemble Matisse's paper cutouts. Folks are dressed for cold weather, so I would guess that this must be November or December. Or January! The lady to our right sure has some yellow hair.
Oh man, the window display with attraction posters. Other bloggers (ones with amazing collections of vintage park ephemera) have published scans of catalogs in which you could order an entire set of silkscreened posters for a few dollars. Go back in time and buy a few sets, and then sell them for tens of thousands of dollars today!
22 comments:
It looks like the employee operating the Astro-Jets, might be flirting with at least one of those two ladies. Or not.
- Tokyo Marshmallow (World)!
It’s always struck me odd with how particular Walt and his early Imagineers were with theming that so many non- Tomorrowland attraction posters were displayed through this land. Also those decorative Metal garden - planter fences seem very out of place in “ The World of Tomorrow”
Seeing those early attraction posters being sold for a complete 18 poster set makes me cry. In those Disneyland catalogs they call them Disneyland’s Travel Posters ...... “ Perfect for the family room of den”...... or in a obscene expensive auction. A few years ago I put those 1956 attraction poster prices into one of those computer on-line programs like “what would 1.00 in 1956 be worth in 2021 etc... kinda of calculators ....and those attraction posters were kinda pricey back then. Because of their large size and prices I wonder how well they actually sold? I guess you would think they may have been more common in the early days of Disneyland collecting in the 1980’s but they didn’t seem to show up too often at the paper and collectible stores. And you didn’t tend to have relatives or neighbors who had the posters etc. I have a feeling they didn’t sell many of them at the art corner or thru the mail order catalog.
I bought my first attraction poster in 1987 for 195.00 .... it was HAUNTED MANSION .... I felt guilty at first .... but I got over it. My friends would crap pink twinkies when they found out how much I paid for it. Lol!! Oddly I bought more attraction posters around the same time ranging from 45.00 for PEOPLEMOVER ( nobody wanted that poster in the 80’s..... but I did!!) and I paid around 75.00 for Inner Space , Columbia....
When the Disney Gallery began selling remaining supplies of original attraction posters in 1988 they set the prices at 300.00 each!! I remember collectors were shocked at those prices : “ who is gonna pay 300.00 for a Matterhorn or Alice in Wonderland attraction poster!!??....
Major : today’s pictures are some unusual views indeed!! Thank you!
Ah Moonliner, there you are!
This is the earlier version, with the exhaust vanes. The idea was that the vanes would deflect the thrust and, thereby, steer the rocket. It worked well on the Moonliner's grand-rocket, the A4 (V2) but I think it would be tough for maintenance crews to keep in good shape for repeat flights. Later, the Moonliner was fitted with gimballed nozzles, like the Saturn V.
The sign next to it is explaining how this is just a 1/3 scale model, and the real thing will be over 200 feet tall (The Saturn V was 363 feet). Actually, the "model" was the tallest thing in the park, beating the castle by eight feet.
There is other stuff in the pictures too... I think...
My favorite time period for just plain eye candy. I volunteer to take the Way Back and grab those posters.
Mike, the Disney Gallery was one of my go to spots when it existed. I remember those prices and thinking it might be too much. I'd end up buying some lower priced items thinking that spreading that money around buying stuff from the Bazaar or Main Street was a better idea. Dratted hindsight!
The Fantasyland poster in the first pic looks like gem highlighting that little green spot surrounded by that beautiful concrete surfacing.
TM, that's why they keep him in that cage.
Love that fedora on that guy in the green shirt.
I'm pondering pink Twinkies and Marshmallows while eating a second breakfast of double chocolate Milanos. Had to put the one I was about to eat down for a bit.
Thanks Major and a good weekend to all.
On using posters for decoration, I postulate two reasons.
1. The posters were already made and available. Use what’s on hand. Money was scarce to decorate Tomorrowland.
2. The Park was brand-new, and unusual. No other amusement park like it, so the posters serve to remind new visitors that there are other lands and attractions they may not have seen yet.
Are these early in the morning? Few spectators in the flight circle seats, and no riders in the Astro-Jets? And only one lone trash can holding court, although it is vaguely themed, not plain green.
Thanks Major.
JG
Ah, the original Tomorrowland. Definitely a stop in my travels once I get the DeLorean running again. It will be a tight fit but I can squeeze in a couple of passengers if anybody wants to come along. :)
The multi-colored building also housed the Crane Co. Bathroom of Tomorrow, opening in April 1956.
Love the dual phone booths next to the building. I wonder if any public telephones exist in the Park today.
Meteor Plaza. Not to be confused with Meatier Plaza. That was sponsored by Swift.
Oddly, there are only two trash cans in the second & third photos, but there are three phone booths and a fire hydrant. That says something about priorities. I'm just not sure what.
Stu, exhaust vane is my Word of the Day®. I'll try to use it in a sentence - "Hey, buddy - you might want to stand clear of my exhaust vane. I had baked beans for lunch."
JG & Grant, our messages crossed in the ether. I hope they waved to each other as they passed.
There's a trash can hiding in the first photo on the other side of the Flight Circle. In the second photo, there's a second can behind the tree to the left of the woman in the dark coat and matching red babushka & shoes.
Looking at the phone booth roofs, I count three in a neat row. But I may be mistaken...been a long time since I saw one in the wild.
I always love seeing the billion-dollar rocket and 19-cent fencing side-by-side.
These are terrific pictures - thanks, Major!
Major-
Those folks in the first image seem awfully nonchalant seated so close to the Moonliner. Why, it could launch at any moment. I certainly hope they've brought their hearing protection-!
Thanks, Major.
What a Great Big Beautiful (Yesterday's) Tomorrow! Those graphics on the exhibit buildings are gorgeous.
Thanks, Major.
TokyoMagic!, I thought it looked like maybe one of the ladies had asked him a question. Like, “Do you have any etchings I can see?”. She loves etchings!
Mike Cozart, I’ve always assumed that the posters for other lands and attractions were there to encourage guests to explore the whole park and see things like the Peter Pan ride or the Mark Twain. Those decorative metal fences look like a budget solution, in an attempt to keep people from walking through the flower beds! You know, money was short in the early days. My guess is that they didn’t sell very many of those poster sets; even though they seem ridiculously cheap today, they were pricey back then (something like $180 for the set adjusted for inflation), I can see lots of dads saying, “$18? Do you think I’m made of money??”. You really scored with some of your posters, I can’t imagine paying $45 for a Peoplemover example! I think my cheapest posters were the “It’s a Small World” and “Disneyland Hotel” examples, which were $150, while some others were $300 and under. But most were a lot more! Still, I’m so glad I have the ones that I do. Heritage Auctions just sold a “tri-level” Frontierland poster (which I do not have) for over $28,000!!
Stu29573, you are definitely the Moonliner expert. In fact, I would put that on my resume if I were you. How many other people know what you do about the exhaust vanes?? I often try to imagine how incredible the Moonliner would look if it had been built to its full 200 foot height. Stunning, of course.
DrGoat, ha ha, I think there’s already a line for the Wayback Machine! All things are relative, and I remember that $300 did seem like a lot of money for a poster. Then I started watching what they would fetch at Howard Lowery animation auctions, and I saw that some could fetch much more. My dream was to get a “20,000 Leagues Under the Sea” walk-thru poster, which I’d only seen in black and white photos. I was shocked to see how wrong I was about what the actual colors were! I think it’s odd that the man in that ticket booth really does look like he’s in a cage, why so many metal bars? Was there a real concern about thievery?
JG, I think that both of your reasons are spot-on. It’s hard to imagine anyone going to Disneyland in the 1950s and not wanting to explore the whole thing, but we’ve seen examples of people doing Disneyland and Knott’s in the same day. Crazy! Because of the clouds it’s hard to tell what time of day these were taken, but the lack of riders might just mean that it was a low attendance winter day.
Grant, if only DeLorean had built a big cargo van version of its time machine! We could all squeeze in. I’d be stunned if any phone booths remain in the park, but… maybe there are one or two just in case. Thanks for the Crane Bathroom info!
Chuck, I want a whole park with meat-themed puns. Walt had his dream, and I have mine. I wonder how many people made phone calls while in the park? You’d think that most sentiments could wait until the guests got home, but if mom thought she left the water running… Disneyland had her covered. Also… no baked beans for lunch. It’s one of my rules.
Chuck II, it probably wasn’t true in 1957, but these days, if there isn’t a trash can within six feet of somebody, they could very well just drop their waste paper onto the ground. For some reason litter always surprises me at Disneyland, mostly because I can’t imagine being the person who just dumped their trash. I do think that we are seeing three phone booths in a row!
Lou and Sue, that fencing was actually made of platinum, so it was much more pricey than 19 cents!
Nanook, maybe the wind sock at the Flight Circle indicated that there would be no moon launches that day? Still, you don’t want to wind up being a crispy critter just because you weren’t paying attention.
Another example of a kidless photo of early Disneyland (though I guess that’s a boy in the red jacket in the center of the second pic, behind Fedora man). Such a difference from today. Those plastic chairs don’t look very comfy, but who would sit for too long when there's so much to go see. Nice colors in these. Thanks Major.
Major and Chuck, I saw a photo on some social media a few days back with some interesting factoids (things that should be true, even if maybe they aren't) about the Disney trash cans, and by extension, sweeping up.
One of Mrs. Disney's chief complaints about amusement parks was that they were all dirty, and so Walt had to overcome this objection by applied science.
First, Walt required the cans to be the kind with swinging doors, so guests would not see the trash inside.
Second, Walt required the spacing to be not more than the distance it took to eat a hot dog while walking. Apparently he based this metric on his own eating/walking pace and the intent was somewhat like your comment, Major. If a trash can was more than a step or two away when a guest needed one, it was assumed the guest would just drop the recently generated trash on the ground. So the can spacing was settled as this distance.
Part of my fascination stems from the photos of Main Street where the double row is so clearly visible, and from my Dad commenting on how clean everything always was, and still is. I think even in the depths of the Pressler Oppression, the Park was still clean.
JG
JG
I can see only one guy in the Astro Jets. He's wearing a red shirt; we all know what that means! "Enjoy your ride, sir!"
Chuck & Major, Meteor Plaza, also not to be confused with Meaty Or... Plaza, sponsored by Impossible Foods.
Major, the bars in the ticket booth were there to protect the public from the employee. Disney used zombies in the early days of the Park; much cheaper than living employees.
I wonder if kids/young people are litter-conscious these days? Back in the '60s there was a big anti-littering TV ad campaign, anyone remember Iron Eyes Cody with that tear dripping down his cheek?
- Just Baked (spritz butter cookies!)
You want to know how tough Scotty was on Star Trek? He wore a red shirt...
Looks like one of them fancy silk babushkas! You have to crook your little finger while tying the knot in one of those!
Kathy!, it really is true, there are almost NO kids in either of those photos! I might see another boy in the far distance, but your point is still a good one. Maybe this was a weekday, and the only people who would show up were either adults, or the occasional child who was lucky enough to have parents who would let them take a day off from school.
JG JG (!), thanks for the trash can factoids! How many other amusement parks garner such scrutiny? Not many! It makes sense that Walt would not want open-topped trash bins - as you said, the swinging-door cans hide the trash, and probably keep down flies and odors. Yay, trash is fun to talk about! I love the idea of spacing the trash cans “one eaten hot dog” apart from each other. How many hot dogs is it to the Sun? Considering how many people go to the park each day, I think that it is clear that the majority of folks are nice and clean up after themselves. But there’s always those lazy bums!
JB, right after this photo was taken, the man in the red shirt was hit by a stunning phaser, attacked by a Mugato, and burned by a Horta. It was not his day. I think my mom considers some of my sandwiches to be impossible foods. Salami and grape jelly, anyone? Zombie employees are just the sort of thing that proved how Walt and his boys thought “outside the box”. You can pay them in brains, and back then every small town had a brain store. Iron Eyes Cody, the most noble Sicilian ever!
Stu29573, that’s why Scotty didn’t go on many away missions! He stayed on the ship trying to deal with those dilithium crystals. And he only had two hours to do it.
I also found it odd to see the park almost completely without kids. Also a nearly empty ride.
I'm not sure about Disneyland, but Disney World parks still has "payphones" in building alcoves designed to hold them. Since WDW has its own phone system, they have no coin slots and can only call within the resort or use calling cards with 800-number access. Until a few years ago they also had incoming numbers so you could call them. A podcast (Communicore Weekly) did a regular bit where they'd call a payphone at Epcot's England pavilion and ask trivia questions of the person who answered.
I don't think there were any Superman-style phone booths in WDW, only ones built into building walls and themed ones like at Epcot.
Major, don't forget stepping on an explosive rock or being zapped by Vaal!
If this was December of '57, our family might've been there. I looked... no luck.
Dean Finder, it’s especially strange since the general idea of Disneyland is (I believe) “a place to take your kids”, though we know that MANY adults are now addicted to going to the park as often as humanly possible. I feel like there are actually other things to do, but to each their own. Thanks for the info about the pay phones at WDW, I love the idea of calling the phone at Epcot’s “England” and asking a trivia question to whoever answered!
JB, those explosive rocks will get you every time. And what about those “flying pizzas” in that episode! You know what I’m talking about, I KNOW that you do.
Major, the ST-OS episode with the “flying pizza” monsters exteriors were filmed at TRW Headquarters.
JG
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